War & Peace

Author, Lisa J. Shannon joins host Linda Olson-Osterlund in the Kboo Studio to talk about her new book,A Thousand Sisters: My Journey Into The Worst Place On Earth To Be A Women. In 2005 Lisa saw an episode of the Oprah show depicting the plight of women in the conflict in The Congo where rape had affected the lives of over fifty percent of the women fleeing the fighting. That show changed Lisa's life forever. She founded Run For Congo Women, raising funds to sponsor Congolese women through Women For Women International, then traveled to the eastern Congo to meet the women she sponsored.

In world where we struggle with wars, injustice, violence in our communities and the threat of environmental devastation...what does peace mean to you. That was the question 186 students from around Oregon answered as part of the Greenfield Peace Writing Contest for Oregon High School Students.

The Obama administration issued its Nuclear Posture Review today. The position paper includes a plan to revamp the existing nuclear arsenal.
It also includes an investment of ten billion dollars over the coming decade into the construction of nuclear weapon production facilities.
Christopher Paine, with the Natural Resource Defense Council, is disappointed that the Obama policy does not fully address the danger posed by nuclear arsenals:

That was Christopher Paine, the head of the NRDC Nuclear program. We’ll have more on this story, including how this new policy impacts US relations with Iran, later this hour on Free Speech Radio News.

What should policies and goals should replace the test-and-punish approach of "No Child Left Behind"? How can academic freedom in the University be defended from what threatens it today? What does the story of Easter mean for the US at war in the Middle East? What's going on at the Oregon State Hospital nowadays? Tom Becker hosts the moles as they discuss these questions.

What's wrong with Easter as celebrated in the US? "Easter… for most Christians, is about individual salvation not interpersonal solidarity. It is about personal resurrection from the dead not community restoration for the living. It is about an “open” tomb that is restricted. It is for believers only not justice for all. It is about eternity not ethics, about right belief not just behavior. It is about the resurrection of the dead not the living." But Easter should be about the resurrection of the living, and that means learning to live in peace and abstaining from war. Thus argues the Reverend William E. Alberts in this piece from Counterpunch read here by Old Mole Tom Becker.

Host Stephanie Potter talks with Portland resident Elizabeth Stinson about her work as a military trauma therapist. Stinson uses her expertise with military regulations and her counseling and diplomacy skills to advise soldiers and their families on their options for obtaining administrative discharges from the military. So far Elizabeth has succeeded in helping some 1700 soldiers to leave the military.